I noticed in Murray's book "The Ninety Nine" that some stocks are oil finished and some varnish finished. My questions is what can you use on
the oil finished stocks that wouldn't be considered refinishing. Thanks

Boiled linseed oil. Or pure tung oil.

+1 Boiled linseed oil. Or pure tung oil.

And then again maybe not either or, but both and...

I came across some very old linseed oil that went gummy after years which I refreshed with 75% tung and got very pleasing results. This blend of oil was used on a 1899 that was covered in some stuff that left it tacky to touch and very dirty.

My only regret was not adding something to stain the blend of oils a little more red so that the final product looked more like the 1895 finish.

The results can be compared to an 1895 varnish and a 1904 Winchester oil finish in this image:

I use Old West Snake Oil Formula #2 on all of my gun stocks.

I am a beekeeper and make my own mixture of beeswax and mineral oil. I also throw in a few drops of Lemongrass oil to make it smell real purdy. Like Frank's Red Hot, I put that s@#$ on everything.

BLO although traditional requires maintenance and not the best preservative
Careless disposal of BLO rags can also be dangerous

My 2cents for satin varnish is Starbrite Teak Oil
(White label Tung Oil based not the Premium Golden Resin based)
Repeated wet sanding / polishing fills and provides an identical finish to original “french polished varnish”

My 2cents for oiled finish is natural and food safe Odies Oil
(Saturate and allow to soak in for 4-20 hours and polish off - allow for 2 initial costs a least 1-3 weeks apart)

Both are renewable finishes able to be restored witout stripping
Although heresy to traditionalists
Besides gunstocks made for marine exposure applications
Purists may scoff - but cannot argue if it works -


There is room for all of God’s creatures ... right next to the mashed potatoes